Previous
Don Custodio
Ben Zayb is a prolific Manila hack journalist. His pen name, an anagram of his real last name Ibáñez, indicates his flair for the dramatic and a writerly style that often runs afoul of the colonial censors. Despite this, Ben Zayb is careful never to explicitly criticize the authorities, instead writing lengthy tributes to the moral characters of leaders like the captain-general. Ben Zayb’s confidence in his own stylistic and argumentative capabilities often exceeds reality, however, as in his embarrassing failure to expose the mechanism behind Mister Leeds’s talking head exhibit at the Kiapo Fair.
Ben Zayb Quotes in El Filibusterismo
The El Filibusterismo quotes below are all either spoken by Ben Zayb or refer to Ben Zayb. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
18. Sleights
Quotes
“O,” it said, shaking disconsolately, “I loved a young woman, the daughter of a priest, pure as light, as a just-opened lotus flower. The young priest of Abydos coveted her as well and plotted a mutiny using my name and several papyruses I had dedicated to my beloved. The mutiny unfolded just as a furious Cambyses returned from the disasters of his unfortunate campaign. I was branded a rebel and imprisoned. When I was able to escape, during the pursuit I died in Lake Moeris. From eternity I watched as imposture triumphed, I saw as the priest of Abydos pursued the poor virgin day and night, even after she had taken refuge in a temple of Isis on the Island of Philoe. I saw him pursue her and hunt her down even into the caverns, drive her mad from terror and suffering, like a giant bat and a white dove.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire El Filibusterismo LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ben Zayb Quotes in El Filibusterismo
The El Filibusterismo quotes below are all either spoken by Ben Zayb or refer to Ben Zayb. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
18. Sleights
Quotes
“O,” it said, shaking disconsolately, “I loved a young woman, the daughter of a priest, pure as light, as a just-opened lotus flower. The young priest of Abydos coveted her as well and plotted a mutiny using my name and several papyruses I had dedicated to my beloved. The mutiny unfolded just as a furious Cambyses returned from the disasters of his unfortunate campaign. I was branded a rebel and imprisoned. When I was able to escape, during the pursuit I died in Lake Moeris. From eternity I watched as imposture triumphed, I saw as the priest of Abydos pursued the poor virgin day and night, even after she had taken refuge in a temple of Isis on the Island of Philoe. I saw him pursue her and hunt her down even into the caverns, drive her mad from terror and suffering, like a giant bat and a white dove.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
